Ran

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Film Description

Returning to a field explored in Throne of Blood, Kurosawa, at the age of 75, adapted Shakespeare's King Lear to the story of ageing warlord Hidetora who, in an attempt to restore peace, divides his kingdom between his three sons and retires from his duties. One child is banished and the other two are overtaken by greed. The film is almost overwhelming yet retains its human scale. One of Kurosawa's finest achievements, Ran is a universally acclaimed masterpiece.

Film Information

DVD Extras

2 discs; Chris Marker's A.K. - The Making of Ran (71 mins); French theatrical trailer.

Technical Details

Film Media

4 Stills

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Reviews & Articles

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Review by John Henson on 2nd September 2000

This masterpiece of Akira Kurosawa starring Tatsuya Nakadai and Akira Terao is a film of great visual beauty, exuisitly made and edited. It tells the story of a warlord Hidetora Ichimonji who having given his kingdom to his two eldest sons and banished the third finds the two elder ones turn on him. The royal house disintegrates in violent and bloody strife. Only the fool and the maimed survive to the end. From the western viewpoint it provides a fascinating insight into an alien culture and period, but the wider theme of this film is the nature of humankind. "When we are born we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools". Man, as the fool has it, is born to weep and die. Violence has its uses, its own culture. Then death. That is mans fate.

Review by Eileen Earnshaw on 27th November 2002

Visually stunning and an undoubted masterpiece.

Review by Adam Chen on 15th August 2000

This movie is about an ageing ruler, Lord Hidetora, who announces his intention to divide his land equally among his three sons. This decision will unleash a power struggle between the three sons, Taro, Jiro, and Saburo. Hidetora falls prey to the false flattery of his two older sons and banishes the youngest one when he speaks the truth, knowing that his father has been tricked by his two older brothers, he tried to help him, but Hidetora was too ashamed to face his youngest son which he banished him from his family. The ruthless betrayal ultimately drives Hidetora
insane, destroying his entire family and kingdom. And he will, at the same time, lose all three of his sons, not by murder, but by betrayal that leads them into war against each other.

Review by Peter Wild on 10th April 2004

Although resolutely obeying the more formalistic (some might say traditional) aspects familiar to viewers of Kagemusha (and arguably repugnant to the younger and more revolutionary 'golden age' Kurosawa responsible for Seven Samurai, Red Beard, Ikiru, Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood etc), Ran is nevertheless the only late Kurosawa movie that warrants a place alongside the best of his work.

Like Throne of Blood (which adapted Macbeth to unmatched effect), Ran adapts Shakespeare - King Lear to be exact. In place of Lear we have an ageing ruler, Hidetora Ichimonji (played with gusto by Tatsuya Nakadai, familiar perhaps to viewers of Kagemusha and Yojimbo). Abruptly abdicating in the presence of neighbouring warlords Fukimaki and Ayabe and dividing his kingdom up among his sons, Taro, Jiro and Saburo, Hidetora fails to see the truth in Saburo's claim that abdication will only lead to chaos and war. From here on in, we find ourselves in the grip of a tempest - both in terms of the madness that grips Hidetora and the ferocious battlescenes that still today set the benchmark for cinematic war. This is the movie that Peter Jackson drew on when he endeavoured to realise Helm's Deep.

In its use of brutal reds and blacks, in its martial articulation of the battlefield, in the heat and the fire of death, Ran (which Kurosawa regarded as the closest he ever came to forging "true cinema") is arguably the last great Kurosawa movie, and a blinding example of why he is regarded as the cinematic equivalent of Shakespeare himself.

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Article - "What You Find: Hidden Gems on DVD" by Graeme Hobbs
Friday 5th November 2004

DVD Extras aren't all about dubious 'featurettes' and photo galleries and theatrical trailers. Now and again the format has given the opportunity to release some exceptional features - often early short films by the director or really worthwhile documentaries. Here a...  View article in full

Article - "Akira Kurosawa" by Peter Wild
Friday 8th July 2005

Akira Kurosawa is generally regarded to be one of the greatest directors to have ever worked in the medium. Lauded later in life by Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola (who said that, “of all film directors, Kurosawa is the only one whose films y...  View article in full

Article - "Shakespeare on Film - Recommended Double-bills" by Daniel Rosenthal
Thursday 12th April 2007

Shakespearean cinema divides into two broad schools: 'original-text' films such as Olivier's Henry V, which retain Shakespeare's sublime poetry and prose, and 'genre adaptations', whose re-imagined Shakespearean characters speak conventional movie dialogue. This comm...  View article in full

Collections & Lists

This film is part of the following Film Collections

Shakespeare - The Complete Film Works

Including: 10 Things I Hate About You, A Midsummer Nights Dream (BBC, 1981), A Midsummer Nights Dream (Noble, 1996), A Winters Tale (BBC, 1981), A Winters Tale (Rohmer, 1992), Alls Well That Ends Well (BBC), Animated Shakespeare Act 1 (The Taming of the Shrew & Macbeth), Animated Shakespeare Act 2 (Julius Caesar & Twelfth Night), Animated Shakespeare Act 3 (Hamlet & The Tempest), Animated Shakespeare Act 4 ( A Midsummer Nights Dream & Richard III).

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